Tax Fraud Scheme Lands Brothers In Federal Prison

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — It will be federal prison time for two South Florida brothers who started a scheme that netted them $1.6 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

A federal judge on Friday sentenced 25-year-old Geto Dorlizier of Boynton Beach to more than nine years behind bars. His brother, 38-year-old Jourmel Thomas of Lake Worth, got more than five years in prison. They pleaded guilty previously to three charges, including conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.

Court documents show the two operated a pair of tax preparation businesses that submitted a combined 706 fraudulent tax returns between 2011 and 2013. In some cases the taxpayer did not authorize the return to be filed and in other cases the returns contained false information.

South Florida has become a hotbed for identity theft used to file fraudulent tax returns.